First-Ever U.S. Solana Staking ETF Set to Launch This Week
Rex Shares and Osprey Funds are set to launch the first U.S. exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering direct exposure to a cryptocurrency with on-chain staking rewards, according to Rex Shares’ post on X teasing that the fund would arrive “Wednesday.”
The Rex-Osprey Solana + Staking ETF will hold Solana—currently the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization—through a Cayman Islands subsidiary. According to its prospectus, the fund plans to stake at least half of those holdings to generate yield.
In its announcement, Rex Shares described the fund as the “first-ever staked crypto ETF in the U.S.”
It’s important to note that while the Rex-Osprey ETF directly holds Solana and tracks its spot price, it isn’t structured as a traditional spot ETF under current regulations. Instead, it is registered under the Investment Company Act and taxed as a C-corporation—unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, which use a commodity trust structure.
Rex Shares’ X post followed the SEC’s response last Friday to the company’s letter. The SEC indicated it had “no additional comments on the fund,” clearing the way for launch. Rex and Osprey initially proposed the Solana ETF in May, alongside a similar Ethereum ETF that would also offer staking rewards.
The timing of the launch is noteworthy, as the market anticipates a wave of spot Solana ETFs that are expected to register under the Securities Act. At least nine such filings are currently under SEC review, with seven recently amending their S-1 forms to clarify staking-related language.
Bloomberg analysts have projected a 95% chance these spot Solana ETFs will get the regulatory go-ahead within the next two to four months.
Staking involves pledging tokens to a decentralized blockchain network to earn yield or financial rewards—a practice that has previously drawn scrutiny from regulators over potential financial and security risks.
Meanwhile, the SEC is actively reviewing roughly 80 other fund applications that seek to track the performance of major altcoins or offer alternative digital asset exposures. These proposals build on the success of spot Bitcoin ETFs—which have attracted nearly $50 billion in net investments—and the strong performance of spot Ethereum ETFs, with around $4.1 billion in assets.
Solana was recently trading at approximately $155, up over 2% in the past 24 hours per CoinGecko data. Despite a sluggish start to the year, the asset has gained about 10% in the past week amid optimism surrounding the approval of a Solana ETF.
On Friday, Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas commented on X that Rex and Osprey were likely trying to beat the upcoming spot products to market.
“They’re no doubt trying to get it to [market] ahead of the spot ones,” he wrote, adding: “…here’s the SEC saying it has no further comments, so they are good to launch it looks like. Wow.”
